Conventional balloons are made chiefly of rubber or synthetic resin in the form of variously shaped, hollow bags inflated with air or gas, and generally used as playing materials, i.e., toys. Because they are so often used as toys by kids, people in the past have looked for ways to further improve the playing experience. A suggestion that has been proposed are the provision of colorable balloons. However, conventional balloons are difficult to use for purposes related to coloring because the surface of the balloon is not easily colored with crayons or paints after fabrication. The surface of the balloon is merely colored or printed during fabrication.
Some solutions have been proposed in the past to overcome that problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,335,083 for instance describes an inflatable sheet type balloon with a surface that can be colored with crayons or paints. However, said colorable area comprises a paper layer adhered to the exterior surface of said balloon body. Due to the high specific weight or density of the combination of a sheet balloon with a paper layer, these balloons are not able to float in the air when filled with helium. This is a considerable disadvantage for this type of balloons.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,050 describes a toy kit comprising a stretchable container such as latex or rubber, which can be partly filled with an edible or other shape retaining substance. The container has surface properties to allow marking on the surface with a normal colored marker. Nevertheless, latex and rubber balloons are considered of less quality when compared to foil balloons, which are stronger and more luxurious. Moreover, once the container is filled with material, seams originate in the wall of the balloon. These seams are hard to color efficiently, which is another drawback.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,594 describes a process for coloring toy balloons manufactured from rubber or latex. According to this process, arbitrary shapes are colored by a colorant.
However, it is not possible with the latter technique to color figures or regular forms. The drawbacks related to the use of rubber or latex are described above.
CN 101 314 929 discloses water-based paint for coloring on inner lining paper of colorful aluminum foil. Nevertheless, this document does not disclose an inflatable foil. Balloons are not manufactured from aluminum foil.
WO 2007 098 168 describes a display to hold an inflatable balloon, which comprises a surface for writing on with a felt-tipped marker. In practice, however, the bonding time of the colorant is too long and the covering capacity is often poor, which leads to disappointing results.
It is clear that there remains a need in the art for improved coloring of sheets with coloring agents. Currently, these colorants dry slowly, make stains and are not correctable. This leads often to frustration and disappointment of children. Moreover, the stains made by the colorants are often persistent, hence parents often discourage the coloring of rubber balloons.
The present invention aims to resolve at least some of the problems mentioned above. The invention thereto aims to provide a coloring kit comprising an inflatable foil, suitable for coloring directly thereon, and a fast drying coloring agent with a high covering capacity. Moreover, the invention also discloses a method for coloring such inflatable foils.